Life restoration and interpretation of the pterosaur species, one specimen carefully holding its prey item from approaching rival, an insect.
Kunpengopterus is a genus of wukongopterid pterosaur from the middle-late Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of northeastern China. The genus contains two species, the type species K. sinensis and K. antipollicatus.[1][2]
Naming[]
Kunpengopterus antipollicatus, appropriately nicknamed the Monkeydactyl. Antipollicatus means "opposite thumbed" in ancient Greek.[3]
Description[]
It soared across the skies, had opposable thumbs and lived in China during the Jurassic era; the "Monkeydactyl" is a recently identified ancient pterosaur. Pterosaurs were the first known vertebrates to fly, researchers said. The arboreal pterosaur species marks the oldest of its kind with true opposable thumbs, a phenomenon never before seen in the species.[4]
Kunpengopterus has an elongated head, 106.9 millimetres long. The cervical vertebrae too are relatively long. The naris is confluent with the antorbital fenestra, but these large openings are still partly separated by a broad and anteriorly directed processus nasalis which has itself a small vertical tear-shaped opening. A low bony crest is present on the skull, just behind the eyes; preserved soft tissue shows it was elongated by cartilage and a yellow discolouration indicates it was perhaps enlarged to the back by a skin flap. There is no sign of a crest on the snout or of a keel under the lower jaws. The back of the skull is rounded. Kunpengopterus has a long stiff tail. The fifth toe is also long and strongly curved. K. antipollicatus has an easily identifiable opposable pollux or thumb, which is highly rare amongst non-mammal species of vertebrates.[5][6]
The fossil and the Skeleton Description/Depicton of the Pterosaur
Classification[]
Kunpengopterus was assigned to the Wukongopteridae, a family of pterosaurs showing a mix of basal and derived pterodactyloid traits.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ https://peerj.com/articles/4102/
- ↑ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/monkeydactyl-scientists-discover-dinosaur-reptile-oldest-opposable-thumbs/
- ↑ https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2021/04/new-jurassic-flying-reptile.aspx
- ↑ https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/04/210412114742.htm
- ↑ http://www.scielo.br/pdf/aabc/v82n4/24.pdf
- ↑ https://scitechdaily.com/monkeydactyl-strange-new-jurassic-flying-reptile-reveals-the-oldest-opposable-thumbs/